They say that the fruit never falls far from the tree and just as there are parents who pass the torch of medicine or law to their children, there are also generations whose ‘posts’ are linked to the cultural sphere.
Such is the case of Maximilian (72) and Leandro Olocco (39) who learned from their parents the love for that universe and oriented their lives in that sense.
Maximiliano was five years old when he saw an opera for the first time; At 18 he was already making show productions with his father – at the time, founder of the Olocco bookstore and nightclub – and after having managed the Libertador between 2016 and 2020, last April he returned to sit in front of the coliseum.
Leandro – a voracious reader who, since he was a child, immersed himself in the books and records that inhabited his house – is the third generation of a family of cultural managers: he was a technician in the Cultural Center Spain Córdoba (CCEC), spent five years as chief of staff of the Buenos Aires Theater Complex and was director of programming at the Center Kirchner Cultural (CCK).
–Leandro, how did you get to Comedia?
–With the management of Mariano Almada, first as an advisor, with two main things: the theater’s scenic project and the quartet’s candidacy as intangible heritage of humanity. I had worked on a similar project in Buenos Aires, for Chamamé. And when the theater opened they offered me the direction.
–Maximiliano, in January of last year you said that you would not return to public service, what made you change your mind?
–Raúl Sansica (NdelE: president of the Córdoba Culture Agency), who is a great manager, who knows what we are talking about and we speak the same language. When he called me, my first response was: “No, I am in another stage of my life.” But finally he convinced me. And I can’t deny that it is a job that I have always liked. Theater changed my life.
–What is the stage proposal of Comedy?
–LO: It has a plural programming profile, seeking to accommodate all expressions of the city that need a theater, from book presentations to popular music. It is also the home of the stable bodies of the Municipality, which have their central programming here. But it is also in high demand by all disciplines. The future plan will also be to host independent theater productions, to open the job market to all those producers and artists that exist. That will allow diversity.
–And in San Martín?
–MO: We are working on staging the Opera ‘La Boheme’, which we premiere in September. I started in April and the basic programming was already put together, but we have had to rearrange some things because an opera requires a minimum of four months of work and closes the theater for three weeks, which is not easy when you have nine artistic casts, more productions private parties that demand the room. That’s without counting cycles like those of Pro Art either Pixar in concertwhich comes in July.
–What is Pixar coming with?
–With the presentation they gave at the Teatro Colón. They come with the musical production of their most famous films. We are also preparing the presentation of a ballet for September.
IN SAN MARTIN. Maximiliano Olocco once again stood in front of the highest provincial theater.
–How are the teams and technical areas in terms of salaries?
–The vision we have is ambiguous, the artist will always want a better salary but for what the national average is it is fine. It should be noted that this administration has sustained the activity.
–I was asking you about the claim that was made at one of the concerts.
-Yeah. They entered the joint negotiations late and therefore were delayed a month, but it is a union problem for not having signed the joint agreement on time. I reiterate, the need for better salaries always exists, but we must be aware that we are living in a quite complicated context. There are more than 400 artists in this theater, there will always be unmet needs and we are addressing those complaints.
–And in the Comedy?
–LO: The history is different, some are very old and others are very new. Yes, there is a debt, that of generating a kind of ordinance that regulates and normalizes the functioning of the casts so that there is a common order.
–Do the casts go to the neighborhoods?
–LO: Yes, but we also encourage the public to come: we have a ‘Cycle of educational concerts for little art lovers’, with which we have already given 12 performances to a full house, with municipal and provincial schools. In many cases it is the first time that the children come to a theater or even to the center.
–MO: We are doing something similar. Our casts are traveling inland, we are restarting guided tours and educational concerts. In addition, we are working on reopening the museum, which had been closed for some time before the restoration. The idea is that in addition to the downstairs room, it has the two upstairs. We want to open in April next year. We also open the internal bar to the public during performance intervals. And we are opening a canteen for artists.
–How does the crisis impact the public?
–MO: We have many free activities with our own casts and the paid ones have a value that accompanies the crisis. The most expensive ticket is between $3,000 and $4,000 and the cheapest is between $500 and $1,000. Then there are private producers who, in our opinion, offer very high prices, but they sell. There is a mix of audiences and a mix of artistic proposals. In addition, we always have a quota of tickets to invite students from universities and music schools.
–LO: The performances at the Comedia have so far been free, which does not mean that they are all full because you also have to come to the center and evaluate everything that comes with getting to the theater.
IN THE COMEDY. Leandro assumed the direction of the municipal theater after its reopening, in July of last year.
